[miow]

Thanks God mines are original. They were sounding so bad (my Hippo VB's were sounding better), that I thought they could be fake. No way looking at your pictures. Well, these babes do need burn-in. They sound horrible out of the box.

 

[Santina]

Hi guys

I searched for the IE8s on Ebay and found these:

NEW Sennheiser IE 8 HIGH FIDELITY EARPHONES Headphones - eBay, Headphones Earbuds, iPod MP3 Accessories, Electronics. (end time 05-May-10 11:05:37 AEST)

I was about to buy them then realised it smelt fishy.

$37 -- has to be fake, right?

 

[david1978jp]

This one uses the element in fake CX300. It's made in China; for many Chinese, "Made in Taiwan" sticker means higher quality. The housing looks obviously different from real IE8, I'll ask my friend find a photo. I don't know how it sounds, but fake CX300 sounds muddy boom-boom, a different housing usually changes the sound signature; my guess it is still muddy boom-boom. Those are priced $3-$8 in China, you got the picture.

 

[Sayajin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santina /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys I searched for the IE8s on Ebay and found these: NEW Sennheiser IE 8 HIGH FIDELITY EARPHONES Headphones - eBay, Headphones Earbuds, iPod MP3 Accessories, Electronics. (end time 05-May-10 11:05:37 AEST) I was about to buy them then realised it smelt fishy. $37 -- has to be fake, right?

You ever seen the real packaging? Not only the price, it sure looks far from the real product and FAKE!!.
Aa far as I know, IE8 or Sennheiser has nothing to do with Taiwan. I just say don't jump into it.

 

[SolidVictory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santina /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys I searched for the IE8s on Ebay and found these: NEW Sennheiser IE 8 HIGH FIDELITY EARPHONES Headphones - eBay, Headphones Earbuds, iPod MP3 Accessories, Electronics. (end time 05-May-10 11:05:37 AEST) I was about to buy them then realised it smelt fishy. $37 -- has to be fake, right?

It's like they don't even try to make fakes look real anymore. Yes, these are fake, very fake. Sennheiser does not even make a pouch like that as far as I know, and genuine IE8s don't come with a pouch.

 

[tenjintuned]

if the seller from ebay is from China or Hong Kong, do not buy.... steer clear from it

 

[bolinao]

No one has a opinion on whether these are real or fakes ??

Quote:

Originally Posted by bolinao /img/forum/go_quote.gif My second pair of ie8's arrived today and i would like the experts to let me know if they are fakes or real,i posted some pics,i am fairly certain they are real,as i bought them from a authorized Sennheiser dealer on ebay. They have the red cable/chip thing on the right earphone. The face on the the inside of the lid is more natural and colorful than the fake one i bought,i have posted a pic of them side by side with the confirmed fake face on the right.Also it seems that Sennheiser have changed the layout of the inside of the lid as it shows 3 adapters together and one by itself,as opposed to the old one where they had two and two,or could this be a sight of a fake ?? (i hope not). Please let me know what you think...thanks

 

[dweaver]

^^
Sorry I have to much on my plate to look at these intensively, there has been a death in the immediate family and I will be doing very limited responses to anything for a while, plus I have actually sold my IE8 and have moved on to Monster Turbine Copper's so aside from the pictures I took of both I am limited in what I can offer.

 

[shepherdDogs]

Greetings -
 
Not sure if anyone still reads this thread, but I just wanted to throw some additional information in here as well. Maybe someone will find it helpfull
 
I just received my IE8's from Amazon today, and I honestly cannot tell whether or not they're fake or genuine. I was lucky enough to find this thread beforehand, and I contacted Amazon before purchasing, in order to extend my concerns regarding the counterfeit IE8's out there. This is what he said:
 
"" Dear Customer,

Thank you for your email.

Here are some tips you can differentiate the original Sennheiser IE8 from the fake one:

Original IE8 package has some following typical points:

1.   It has a plastic band on the bottom side of the box that you need to cut off to open the box. You also can see the instruction for opening the box right under the plastic band.

      If you can open the box easily without cutting anything, your Sennheiser IE8 is not an original one.

2.   The hologram on the bottom side of the box can be seen differently from the fake one. You can see the word: True Sennheiser Sound and the label Sennheiser underneath change color.
      The fake one can have a hologram but the word "True Sennheiser Sound" doesn't change color.

Inside the box:
- The original IE8 doesn't have a red wire inside the jack of the right driver. Many articles said that the original IE8 has a red wire but in fact, it doesn't.

Among authorized dealers for IE8s, We'd recommend you check out your nearest Apple store to see the original IE8 in person. The reason is most of articles can give you wrong information about the product. By checking it in person, you can have real information and knowledge to differentiate the original IE8 from the fake one.

Thank you for your questions

Best regards, ""
 

I went ahead with the purchase because the seller seemed knowledgeable enough about this issue, and I paid the full $400 for them, so I was sure they were going to be authentic.
 
I'll be damned if that box didn't arrive today, and there was NO plastic band at all sealing the bottom of the case. It actually opened very easily, with no need for scissors. I was sure they had to be the fakes. My only other concern is that there ARE red wires on both... BOTH of the L&R IEM's. So basically, I had two strikes against me already.... according to the seller's email above.
 
However, after further inspection, the rest of the packaging and the IE8's themselves appeared to be perfectly original and legitimite.
 
But the sound is what I can't get over. They actually sound pretty extraordinary. Out of the box, they sounded somewhat harsh as I was trying to find the best earpieces to use, but after about 4-6 hours ONLY of burn-in time..... They already sounded better than my pair of Shure SE530's! I mean.... complete soundstage, nice and crisp highs, and the most-vaulable, tight and enveloping lows that you can "feel." So basically, they seem to be everything that we like to experience with the Shure's, but with the bass that you can't put a price on.
 
At this point, I just want the piece of mind if I am listening to originals or not. I'd like to have them verified by Sennheiser, but that seems out of reach at this point. I think it's very possible that I was just sent a Sennheiser box that had been previously opened and then returned. Everything else inside the case was absolutely brand-new and sealed. The hollogram even changes changes colors appropriately, as he had mentioned.  
 
What concerns me is that, on this thread, the fakes reportedly sounded good (out of the box). I can't imagine how mine sound this good after ONLY 4 hours of burn-in. They definitely sound like the real-deal. It's just the packaging bothered me.
 
Of course, this thread was started over two years ago... so I'm not sure what has changed concerning the original packaging. The stupid Apple store doesn't carry the IE8's here locally, so its useless to try and compare a known-authentic set with an "I really can't tell for sure one way or the other" - set.
 
Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post! If anyone would like to see a pic, I could try to post, but I'm telling you, they look as authentic as the pics at the very beginning of this thread. I would however be extremely grateful for any feedback!
 
-shepherdDogs
 
 
P.S. Does anyone know if the fakes just sound horrible, horrible, or have they come along in the past couple of years to sound close enough to the authentic pair of IE8's ??
 
 
 
 
 

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Well Some said that www.most-toys.com was selling fake sennheisers,
So I e-mailed them saying someone saying they were selling fakes, and asked them if it was true.
They answered saying they sell originals, now what?

 

[shepherdDogs]

From shepherdDogs on  5/13/10 at 11:16pm
 
""At this point, I just want the piece of mind if I am listening to originals or not.
 
What concerns me is that, on this thread, the fakes reportedly sounded good (out of the box). I can't imagine how mine sound this good after ONLY 4 hours of burn-in. They definitely sound like the real-deal....""
 
OK. I am probably the first person on this silly thread that actually responds to his own post, but here it goes:
 
I contacted Sennheiser USA concerning my curious packaging, and they explained to me that Amazon.com, LLC is certainly an authorized dealer that ships directly from the Sennheiser warehouse/distributor, whatever.
 
The fact that my initial Sennheiser IE8 box came with the Integrity Seal already broken was cause for concern, and the Sennheiser rep said that I should contact Amazon immediately and either demand a refund or a replacement.
 
Well, I did just that, and Amazon sent me a brand new replacement set of IE8's overnight... no questions asked. All I said was that the Integrity Seal had been broken, and the internal packaging may have been tampered with before shipping. I asked them to make sure and verify that the IE8 replacement shipment is brand new.
 
I just received the replacement pair of IE8's today. The Integrity Seal was unbroken! As I unpacked the contents, everything I observed seemed to be authentic. The only thing different I noticed, was that the L&R IEM's do not show any red wires whatsoever.
 
When I began listening, I immediately noticed a tremendous difference. I can't even explain how much better they sound! I can tell you that they sound like an absolute DREAM. I am just a JR audophile, but I can already hear an extreme difference from my Shure SE530's, Klipsch image S4, Vibe Duo's, and Apple in-ear's These IE8's are in a class of their very own. The low-to-mids are absolutely incredible... not to mention the crisp high's!
 
I truly believe now that some Jackass at Amazon opened my first IE8 shipment and put in a set of fakes before sending them. That's why my first shipment seal was broken already and in-question when I received it. If anyone buys from Amazon, make sure and demand that they verify the Integrity Seal is unbroken or that the item is brand new!
 
All I have to do now is send back the fakes that I received initially. I hope someone else finds this post helpful!
 
The scary part is that the initial fakes I received from Amazon still actually sound better than my SE530's after a few hours of burn-in. They are obviously making some pretty good fakes out there now that don't sound too horrible.... so please be very careful and cautious when purchasing yours. The fakes however, don't even compare to the original IE8's, as I know now.
 
Sorry again for the long post. I hope this helps anyone else out there.
 
P.S. I think the Apple in-ear's sound better that any IEM's under $300. They are a great IEM for the $75 price-tag. Don't waste your money on the Shure's, unless you want fantastic mids and nice crisp high's with NO bass.... that's just one man's humble opinion. I believe the Shure SE530's are probably great for On-stage monitoring, but not the best for listening.
 
- shepherdDogs.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[david1978jp]

shepherdDogs,
This is the first time I read "tips you can differentiate the original Sennheiser IE8 from the fake one"  which from an official source. It also seems Sennheiser has changed its "red wire" to plain wire; some fake ones actually have plain wire, how confusing now it becomes. Can you please post a photo?
Many think IE8 sounds crappy when out-of-box; but if you like yours that way, I wonder how you will like it over time - the sound did change  after 100 hours. Could the first one be a return which already burn-in? Do you still have the first one? Can you compare them after you burn-in your second IE8? Of course, it'll take some time, I don't want you to miss the return deadline.
Some of IE8 owners already moved to Monster Turbine Pro, they are about same price as IE8; if you change your mind on IE8, Amazon do have very good return policy.
Apple In-Ear sounds somewhat dull to my ears, my phone is probably not a good match.  What mp3 player do you have?

 

[shepherdDogs]

I have to admit I am a little bias in favor of the Apple-line. With that being said, my music player is basically either itunes or iphone. The mpeg-4 / AAC format is balanced very nicely by the IE8. The only problem I had with earlier IEM's and the iphone is that the EQ cannot be adjusted manually on the iphone. Their EQ presets basically just happen to suck, unless you're the type that just loves lots of mids, trebles.... but with no bass. Whereas the IE8's respond much much better to low frequencies, and that seemed to be the missing element for me. This is just really relevant to the iphone however. The Shure SE530 and IE8's can handle more bass, if your device is able to push more low end to them. Its just that the IE8's seem to have more low-end presence overall.
 
When I spoke with Sennheiser USA, I asked their support person about the proper amount of burn-in time, just to make certain that I was indeed listening to originals, and this person I spoke with did not support this methodology... stating that original IE8's should sound just as good brand-new as they would with 100 hours of burn-in time, for example. I'm not so sure I agree with him, as mine tend to sound better everyday. But perhaps Sennheiser doesn't officially support the fact that you have to listen for over 100 hours before they'll start to sound good.
 
I'm not sure if I could take any pictures to compare my two pair. I can tell you that they look absolutely the same, except for one difference..... The first pair I received shows two red wires on both the left and right IEM. The second pair shows regular wires. I truly don't know if this means anything or not, but that's what I can tell visually. That and the fact that my first shipment came with the box unsealed and already opened. So that led me to believe that maybe they weren't the originals.
 
The overall sound of the first pair seemed somewhat harsh, whereas the second pair seems to have a complete soundstage and much better low-end frequency response.
 
The trick is with the Apple-in ear is to find another earpiece other than what comes with the Apples. For example, I used the earpieces from either the Shure or the Klipsch, it just gave me a better overal seal, which brings out more bass and clarity. The sound on the Apple-in ear was always a little on the high-end, but the mids came through much more clearly with a third-party earpiece. What a difference! It was like listening to a whole different set of IEM's. I just think that they're great for $75, and also a great utility pair to have, for walking the dog. The Apple-in ear is a 2-driver earphone....1 woofer to handle bass and mid-range and then 1 tweeter. They seem to sound great with Apple devices but maybe they're just engineered that way..... Do they sound (not-as-good) with a different manufacturer's device? I'm not sure .....
 
Best Regards,
sD
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Well i agree with shepherdDogs...
I bought ie8's from amazon, and expected a big deal, seeing as it had SOO many good reviews.
Got them in, seal was broken for starters, and tips seem to have been used.
 
I ranted quite long about that then forgot about it and asked for a refund.
Seems like i'm not the only one getting done by amazon.
 
The thing that worries me:
I buy a new product on EBAY for example, it comes as used - not new. I report that ebay seller, no matter his reputation to paypal + ebay, they would suspend/maybe ban him - bye bye reputation!
 
So the thing which got me is that i'm talking about amazon here, a site i trust, more than ebay. Yet i got sold, well "fakes" or at least a used product. Disappointing. 
More so, Sennheiser, lost a customer. I didn't want to deal with that "fake" business any more, after all the stress it brought me, and went to Handheld audio, and bought some Westone 2's. Thoroughly enjoying them atm.
 
So, maybe i'm not an audiophile, neither am i an expert. But i know when iv'e been sold re--packaged - used products. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.
 
Also, in that period of time i contacted Senn UK, and they did confirm to me: L/R, don't have to be wedged, Barcode started before, BUT seal SHOULD NOT be broken. "We wouldn't sell that to amazon"
 
Note: I bought from AMAZON S.A.R.L - authorised dealer.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

and in terms of apple in-ear's:
Are you talking about these?
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MA850G/A?n=in_ear&fnode=MTY1NDA0Ng&mco=MTA4NTA2NzA&s=topSellers
 
If so, i CANNOT agree that they are anywhere as near as good as shures/ other top of the line earphones.
My best friend has them, i gave her a tip - buy some comply's (as she lost her old tips), bought some, and she is enjoying them. I tried them on listened to them for about 20mins, and both me and her agreed that my EX500's (£40) were better than the in-ear apples. Clearer, better bass, more refined.
Put my EX500's against W2's. They stand no chance
 
Hope that clears up something else too